Jonathan Bernard

Today I have decided to learn everything on Jaco’s self-titled solo debut CD. That is a pretty large goal, and I know I will not be able to go through it as fast as I would like. Jaco’s music is some of my favourite music, all genres and artists considered. His playing has always drawn me as a bass player. While there are many other great players I look up to, Jaco is the one I want to emulate the most. I want to absorb his skill set, to whatever degree I can.

Musically I am bored right now. Most of the stuff I play is simple from a musical perspective. Even when learning new material, most of the time the technical skill required to play the patterns is all I am picking up. The reason why the player chose the those notes is within my understanding. A lot of what Jaco was doing is far beyond my knowledge, and very different from what I am playing right now. I do not expect to suddenly know the mind of Jaco after following through one CD, but I do hope that by playing his licks, his grooves, I will be pushed out of my comfort zone, theoretically as well as technically. To me, Jaco’s lines always created a thick groove, and yet they are some of the busiest bass lines I have heard. I want to be able to place notes like he did.

Maybe I will record and post stuff I have learned to YouTube.

I am sitting here after a long day in Paris. If you will excuse my indulgence, I want to write down what happened today.  It was a fun, exhausting, rewarding day. I warn you, this is a bit long. (more…)